Appeal No. 98-2150
Application No. 08/539,926
that reference discloses, either expressly or under the
principles of inherency, each and every element of a claimed
invention. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc.,
730 F.2d 1440, 1444, 221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984). The
law of anticipation does not require that the reference teach
what the appellants are claiming, but only that the claims on
appeal "read on" something disclosed in the reference. Kalman
v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 713 F.2d 760, 772, 218 USPQ 781, 789
(Fed. Cir. 1983). Additionally, it is well settled that if a
prior art device inherently possesses the capability of
functioning in the manner claimed, anticipation exists
regardless of whether there was a recognition that it could be
used to perform the claimed function. See In re Schreiber,
128 F.3d 1473, 1477, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
See also LaBounty Mfg. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 958 F.2d 1066,
1075, 22 USPQ2d 1025, 1032 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
Szymczak discloses a system for sealing a wellhead 12
(which has a primary sealing surface 36 and a secondary
sealing surface 38) during two different operating modes. As
illustrated in Fig. 1, in Szymczak's first operating mode a
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